Tag: food supply chains

HOW DOES YOUR LOCAL FOOD GROW?

CAN WE BUILD A LOCAL FOOD WEB INSTEAD OF A GLOBAL AGRI-CHAIN?

Wayne Roberts looks at all the ways local food webs are already growing, ready to become the Next Big Thing in creative disruption.

Several weeks ago, I went to and wrote about an exciting international conference in Montpelier, France, on sustainable “agrichains” — which is geekspeak for food supply chains that are socially, economically and environmentally responsible.

I now want to propose the idea of going beyond the one-way and linear supply chain thinking of agribusiness, and make the case instead for civic food webs — based on partnerships among local governments, local public and community institutions (universities and co-ops, for example), social movements, citizen groups (such as the marvelous Equiterre of Montreal), community-oriented businesses, neighborhood groups, and engaged individuals and families.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION:

SUMMING UP THE FIRST MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “AGRI-CHAINS” AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Some 250 food and agriculture researchers, teachers, community and business leaders from 40 countries met in Montpelier, France, this December to discuss how food system reforms can contribute to meeting 17 bracing Sustainable Development Goals — perhaps the most ambitious, compelling and engaging global project yet adopted by the United Nations.

The conference on Agri-Chains and Sustainable Development took place in the last weeks of 2016, but the quality of presentations rang in the new year with some exciting prospects for research and action projects.

I attended and presented at the conference as a representative of FLEdGe, based at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, which supports Canadian scholarly work and practice to promote Food that is Locally Embedded and Globally Engaged.